The Thursday after the Last Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on November 28, 2024 by under
Scripture: Zephaniah 3:8-9 (NKJV)
3:8 “Therefore wait for Me,” says the Lord, “Until the day I rise up for plunder; My determination is to gather the nations to My assembly of kingdoms, to pour on them My indignation, all My fierce anger; All the earth shall be devoured with the fire of My jealousy.
9 “For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they all may call on the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one accord.”
Devotion
In addition to watching, we are commanded by the Lord to “wait”. We are to wait according to His will, not our own. Sometimes Satan will teach people a twisted message about how they should “wait and hope,” but that pious-sounding message is about pride and manipulation, rather than submission to the Lord’s Word and authority. Here the prophet Zephaniah’s message is a reminder that we are to wait for God’s will to be done, for His judgment to be made clear, and for His justice to be carried out.
“‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the LORD. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.’” (Is. 55:8-9). Satan taught Eve and Adam to trust in their own understanding, and he continues to teach that lie to all of us. Waiting and watching for the Lord’s will means we submit to His truth and His promises. He also tells us the waiting and watching will be difficult, but that doesn’t change the fact we are to submit to His good order. Our Lord Jesus indeed taught us to always pray to our Father, “Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…for Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory.”
Collect: Absolve, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy people from their offences, that from the bonds of our sins which, by reason of our frailty, we have brought upon us, we may be delivered by Thy bountiful goodness; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for A Day of General or Special Thanksgiving
Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, Whose mercies are new unto us every morning, and Who, though we have in no wise deserved Thy goodness, dost abundantly provide for all our wants of body and soul: Give us, we pray Thee, Thy Holy Spirit, that we may heartily acknowledge Thy merciful goodness toward us, give thanks for all Thy benefits, and serve Thee in willing obedience; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
